Hike #7, part two

Today is travel day back to Belfast--and it's a lovely sunny day. I needed to be on the road by 10:30 a.m. At breakfast I asked a trip leader how long he thought it might take to get to the top of Black Crag and back – that being the high point of hike #6, last seen in a downpour of rain two days ago. He estimated three hours. Which I didn't have. I thought I could do better and headed back through the forest above Monk Coniston. First stop Tarn Hows. The man who owned Monk Coniston in the 1800s had enough earth moved to merge three lakes into one, creating Tarn Hows, which he stocked with trout. The locals were so angry they stocked it with perch and pike, which ate the trout.

Black Crag on my last visit:

And today:

I made it up in an hour and back down in just under an hour, giving me 15 minutes to take a shower and pack the car. There was always a chance I'd miss a path in the bracken or take the wrong stile, but I was very focused and may have jogged a little.

I forgot to bring a water bottle so I was really motivated to make good time.

I think you'll agree it was worth revisiting. And I'm counting this as hike #7, even though I skipped the official seventh hike. On the way back I snapped this very on-brand National Trust building in the car park next to Tarn Hows.

And here are Belgian Bart and his wife on a bench overlooking Coniston Water from the lawn of Monk Coniston. It looks like an ad for HF Holidays.

The four-hour drive back up to Cairnryan was uneventful. The ferry crossing also uneventful. I had a great seat at the very front (prow?) of the ferry coming into Belfast Port.  

And at the end of my travels, one very happy springer spaniel.

17 July